95 Honda Civic dashboard contents

My 95 honda civic was broken into on Friday but nothing that I can tell
was stolen. However it won't start anymore and there are some wires
hanging down from the right side under the dashboard. I have no
experience with this so I've been googling around for the last couple
of hours but I haven't found any good resources and I don't have one of
the big "everything you ever need to know about fixing a civic" tech
manuals.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In depth description. The carpet has been peeled back (not just the
removeable carpet) and there is a clump of wires that are leading from
the right side of the car to where the radio is. The wires are just
hanging down. The strange thing is that all the electronics are working
just fine as far as I can tell and nothing seems to be missing from the
engine. There is also a little metal plate that was on the floor that
just says LH and nothing more.

I'm really clueless about what was even in the dash let alone how to
fix it so I thought I would appeal to the gurus online. Thank you for
any suggestions, links or further questions.

Chuck Vose

 

www.autozone.com has a free online manual for your Civic. Follow the
pointers to "repair guides."

http://www.honda.co.uk/car/owner/workshop.html has a link to an online
manual for your Civic, too. Lots of PDF files, but my understanding they are
straight from the Factory Service manual.

In the right side passenger footwell (or a little above and to the left, or
thereabouts) is the car's engine control module (also known as ECU or ECM or
"control unit, cabin," among other things). Very important, to say the
least. These don't fail often, but they are expensive, ~$300 to ~$600. I can
see a thief going after it. Go to the links above to help confirm this was
what was pilfered. The bustards.

Places like www.slhonda.com will give a more exact price.

What do you mean all the electronics work fine? Which "electronics"?

 

wrote in

Sounds like they might have got your ECM. It was right up against the
vertical panel under the dash, immediately ahead of the door. The ECM is
about the size of a large paperback book. See anything like that, or just a
big hole?

 

Thank you, it seems like you're both totally right on. We took a look
at a friends honda and it definitely looks like the ecm is missing.
Thank you for the responses and the info about the manuals!

-Chuck Vose

 

My sympathies on the theft.

Wrecking yards are a great source of ECMs, and 1995 should be pretty widely
available. Expect to pay around $100 US with a 30 day warranty. If it works
for 30 days it should last the life of the car.

Mike